Sterling

by Foster , Delaney

  “I can’t do this right now. I need to talk to Jayce,” Claire said.

  The dumbass cut in. “What about us? Your mom said you needed me. I thought maybe—”

  “Us?” Claire questioned. Then she laughed. “Us ended the minute you stuck your dick in your hairdresser.”

  That explains why she clammed up when I talked about the woman who cuts my hair. He cheated on her. I’d shove his balls up his asshole if I didn’t think walking off with his girl in my arms would hurt him more.

  “Claire…” he started, but she held a hand in the air to stop him.

  “Don’t. Go home, David. My mother never should’ve called you.” Then she took my hand and pulled me through a sea of people until we were alone. Away from the crowd. Away from Abigail. Away from everything but the sound of the band.

  My emotions were a live wire. I was upset that some other guy stole one of our firsts. I hated the thought of Claire ever being with anyone else, much less married to the motherfucker. And it cut me to the bone that she didn’t feel like she could tell me about him. But we’d both lived separate lives over the past thirteen years because I’d walked away. Me. Not her. We each had a past. Mine certainly hadn’t been perfect. All I cared about was that she was here now, with me, and I wasn’t ever walking away from her again.

  She stopped in front of me and grabbed both of my hands. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about him. It’s just… there was so much… and it was all at once… Then it was good again, and I didn’t want to ruin the good with more bad. I wanted to tell you. I just…” She heaved an exhausted sigh. “I couldn’t find the words.”

  I understood that more than she knew. It’s what kept me from telling her about my nana all those years ago. “You actually married that peckerhead?” I asked with a smirk.

  “They say you have to kiss a frog or two before you find your prince,” she replied with a grin.

  “Or two?”

  She smacked the side of my arm then rolled her eyes. “Okay one. It was one frog.”

  “That’s better.”

  “I like to think of the past thirteen years as a haze. I was just walking around, not really seeing where I was going.”

  I knew exactly how she felt.

  “And now?” I cupped her ass in my hands and pulled her closer. I wanted everyone to know she was mine. Since we were seven years old, there was never a moment when she wasn’t.

  “Now I’ve never seen things more clearly.”

  Three months later…

  “Do you think we have enough lanterns?” I asked Jayce, who happened to be right in the middle of hanging lantern number seventeen.

  He stood halfway up a ladder with a hammer in one hand and a paper lantern in the other. He grabbed the tiny silver hook from my hand and laughed. “I think if we hang any more lanterns, Mr. Meyers will mistake it for a runway and land his crop duster in the front yard.” He fixed the hook in the wooden porch beam then hung the last lantern.

  Jayce Sterling was the perfect handyman. He was hot. He preferred to work shirtless. And he accepted his payment in the form of sex.

  I kept my eyes on the prize as Jayce climbed down the ladder and stood in front of me. I brushed my hands across the light dusting of hair on his chest then wrapped my arms around his neck. Every time he was near me, it was like I was seventeen again. My stomach fluttered, and my heart raced. A thrill washed over my skin, heating me from the inside out.

  “Thank you for helping me,” I told him.

  After the Fourth of July event, I’d accepted Mrs. Abraham’s offer to help her with the B&B. Stella wasn’t thrilled to hear that I wasn’t coming back to Hickory Falls, but she was glad I had finally found my happily ever after. Mrs. Abraham had spent the last three months showing me the ins and outs of running the B&B. Last week, the long-time owner of the inn handed me the keys then left for her very first cross-country road trip.

  Jayce had started commuting from Clover Creek to Houston for work. Garrett Frost turned out to be a great choice to help Jayce behind the scenes. No more fifteen-hour workdays.

  Jayce circled his arms around my waist and pulled me close. I loved the feeling of being in his arms. I was addicted to his strength, to his warmth. And to his scent. If I could bottle his scent and carry it around in my pocket, I’d be one seriously happy girl.

  “It’s perfect,” he said. “Everyone is going to love it.”

  How was he so calm? So confident?

  I glanced around Jayce’s broad shoulder and out into the front lawn. We’d set up bobbing for apples and a cornhole competition. Mr. Freddie put up a food tent with some of his diner’s famous burgers. There was even a make your own costume tent. In the vacant lot next door, there was a bouncy house and a kid-friendly haunted walk-through. But I still wondered if it was enough.

  “What if I make a mess of this and the whole town hates me? What if we run out of pumpkins to carve? Or if Freddie doesn’t have enough burgers? What if the haunted house is too scary? Jayce! What if we don’t have enough candy?”

  Jayce pulled back and took my face in his hands. “You’re doing it again.”

  I rambled a laundry list of questions when I was nervous. And nervous was an understatement right now. Jayce said that was my insecurities fighting with my confidence, and he made me promise not to let them win. “First rule of running a business—you make a decision, and you stand by it,” he had told me.

  He lifted me up and threw me over his shoulder. He locked one arm around my knees then ran down the stairs and across the lawn. Please don’t trip and fall. This could go bad in a hot minute. Please don’t jump over that hay bale. Annnnnd he jumped over the hay bale. I shrieked. Jayce laughed.

  “All-American quarterback junior and senior year. Remember?” he said as he darted into the bouncy house.

  I landed flat on my back on the bouncy air cushion. Jayce fell on top of me. His breath came in short, heavy bursts against my cheeks.

  “Show off.”

  “What? That? Psssh. That was just the previews. The real show is right here.” He pressed his hips into mine. His erection rubbed me exactly where I wanted it.

  I circled my legs around his waist. “A bouncy house? That’s another first for us.”

  He grinded against me again. Oh sweet Jesus, I would never get enough of this. “There is no limit to the filthy firsts I want to do with you.”

  “The whole town is going to be here in a minute,” I told him.

  He brushed his lips across mine. “Then I better work fast.”

  Even when we’d had sex as teenagers, “fast” was not in Jayce Sterling’s vocabulary. He always took his time and never stopped until I was a trembling, gasping mess.

  “I like it better when you work slow.” I pulled my legs from his waist and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Maybe we can come back to this later. When everyone is gone.”

  “Promise?” He was like a kid asking for a toy.

  “Promise.”

  Jayce flashed a smile then hopped up and started bouncing. He jumped higher, flying up in the air, and landed the perfect back flip. I fought to keep my balance. Every time Jayce bounced, I moved. Eventually I was flopping all over the place. If you can’t beat ‘em… I started to jump, and a proud smile spread across his face.

  Okay, I get it. He brought me in here to help me lighten up. We bounced and flipped—well, I mostly bounced and fell on my butt—until my face hurt from laughing so much.

  When we got back to the front of the B&B, I spotted Gram standing on the front porch. “Hey, Gram. Ready for your VIP tour?”

  With me staying at the B&B full time, we’d had to come up with a plan for Gram. A few weeks ago, my mother caught Annie with her legs spread while the lawn guy fertilized more than the flowerbeds. Needless to say, my mother’s perfect angel fell from grace. Jayce wasn’t the least bit surprised when I’d told him about it. Since I couldn’t exactly stay at Gram’s and run the B&B, she had started staying with me. She liked he
lping me remodel and loved being outside in the flower garden. When she was ready to go home, Mom would stay with her.

  Gram bent her arm at the elbow, letting me loop my arm through. Then we walked around all the tents and tables scattered across the large front lawn. Since she’d developed a fear of crowds, this was the only way Gram could enjoy the fall festival.

  “You know, that’s how I met your gramps,” Gram said when we reached the silver tub filled with water and apples. She stared at the tub and a smile danced on her lips. “I was in sixth grade. The school had put on a little festival a lot like what you’ve done here.” Gram waved her hand at the booths around us. “The prize for getting the most apples was a jar full of butterscotch candies. Gah, I wanted those candies.” Her eyes lit up as she recalled the memory. It made my heart smile. “There was one apple left, and it was me and him. He got the last apple but gave me that jar of candy.”

  I wondered what it must be like to fight to hold onto the parts of yourself that you cherish most. Days like today, when Gram hadn’t lost those pieces of herself, I made sure to hang onto every word she said. To listen to every story and cherish every smile. I used them to get through the not-so-bright days.

  “There’s one more thing I want to show you.” I led Gram around to the backyard.

  In the far corner, Jayce and I had staggered and stacked hay bales, then covered them with quilts. I’d set pots of chrysanthemums on and around the seats of straw. Orange, white, red, and purple blooms filled the space with vibrant color. I’d put out pumpkins and a scarecrow and a trunk full of hats and masks. Behind the hay bale “benches,” Jayce made a sign out of pallets (thank you Pinterest) that read “Gram’s Corner.”

  Gram clasped a hand over her mouth and gasped. “Oh, Claire Bear. It’s adorable.”

  I reached over and took Gram’s hand. “It’s a place for people to come and take pictures. A place for them to freeze time. To make at least one memory they can carry with them always.”

  Gram’s eyes glistened as she squeezed my hand. Then the first tear fell. Gram closed her eyes to will the tears away, and I knew. All this time I’d wondered if Gram knew she was sick. But in this one gesture, in the way I watched her heart break when she heard my words, I didn’t have to wonder anymore. Gram knew.

  “There you two are,” my mother’s voice rang from behind us. “Oh, Claire you’ve outdone yourself. This is amazing.”

  I turned to face my mom, who was surprisingly wearing blue jeans and white tennis shoes. Jeans and a compliment? All in the same day? Who was this woman, and what did she do with my mother? Since the Fourth of July festival, Mom and I had talked about the past. She apologized again and promised she never meant to cause me any pain. I gave her my forgiveness and told her how much I loved her, and our relationship has done nothing but blossom since.

  “Hey Mom. When’s the doctor appointment?” My mother’s face twisted in confusion, and I laughed. “I mean, you’re obviously not feeling well…”

  She brushed her hand over the denim fabric. “Stop it. I wear jeans.” I cocked a brow and she rolled her eyes. “Okay fine. I wear jeans now.”

  “They look hot, Mom. I can’t wait to introduce you to leggings.”

  “To what?”

  I threw my head back and laughed. This was going to be fun.

  The three of us went inside and grabbed Gram’s overnight bag. Then I walked them to the car.

  “I’m really proud of you, Claire. I mean it.”

  Those words meant more to me than my mother could ever know.

  The sun began to set, and people from the neighborhood started to trickle in. I watched a boy and girl about seven years old stand and point at the silver tub of floating apples. The boy said something that made the little girl laugh. I wondered if that boy and girl would be like my gram and gramps, if they would fall in love that day without even knowing it. Just like Jayce and me.

  “Come with me,” Jayce said. He took my hand and led me away from the house. “There’s something I want to do before it gets too crazy.”

  He pulled me toward a big green tractor and trailer full of hay. “You want to go on a hayride? Right now?” I questioned.

  He jumped on the trailer then held out his hand to help me up. “Yep.”

  “You’re insane.”

  He plopped down on a bale of hay then pulled me down beside him. “And you love me, so what does that make you?”

  I licked my fingertip then ticked a point on an imaginary score board. Jayce: One. Claire: Zero.

  October in Texas wasn’t especially chilly, but the breeze from sitting on an open trailer started to bite at my bare arms. Jayce draped his arm over my shoulder and brought my body against his. That was all it took. His touch sent the chill running for the hills.

  “Almost there,” he promised.

  The tractor turned a corner and pulled into the parking lot of Clover Creek Elementary. It came to a stop and Jayce jumped out over the side. Where did this man get his energy? He must spike his coffee with Red Bull.

  Jayce grabbed my hand and helped me step off the trailer. We walked around the building, where he jumped the fence then let me in.

  “Jayce, we’re going to get caught. What in the world are you—” My words cut short when I saw the blanket in the middle of the clover field, right where we used to sit during recess.

  He took my hand in his and smiled. “We’re not going to get caught.”

  “A picnic? You want to have a picnic? Right now? But we have people at the B&B. Someone will wonder where we are.”

  “We’re not having a picnic.” His voice was as smooth as velvet and as calm as the night sky.

  How was Jayce so calm when I felt like a sinner sitting on the front pew? We were going to get caught. My heart beat faster with every step we took. If he brought me here to get naked on that blanket…

  Then I saw it, and my heart stopped altogether.

  In the middle of the blanket sat a little black box. Only, suddenly it didn’t look so little anymore. The longer I looked at it, the bigger it got. Until it was everywhere. It was all I saw. This black box.

  Jayce sat cross-legged on the blanket and patted the spot beside him.

  “Please tell me you didn’t bring me here to fulfill some kind of weird childhood fantasy thing,”

  “No, but now that you mention it…” One corner of his mouth tilted in a grin.

  My eyes grew wide, and he chuckled. He reached forward and ran the back of his fingertip along the outline of my jaw, stopping at the bottom of my chin. He tipped my head and brought my eyes to his.

  “I have loved you since the day we played freeze tag at Bennett’s birthday party when we were seven years old. And I’ve fallen in love with you at least a thousand times more since then. Every time you steal my fries. And again, when you save me the last piece of pecan pie. When you fall asleep on my chest in the middle of a movie. And when I get off a business call just to hear about your day. Then hearing the smile in your voice because you couldn’t wait to tell me about it. When you opened the front door at your parents’ house that night and I saw your heart pound in your pulse, and I hoped it meant you still loved me too. And when I kissed you in the rain and found out for sure that you did. And every single day for the past twenty-four years.” He grabbed the box and knelt in front of me and I felt my hands tremble. My chest felt as though it was going to explode from the swelling of my heart. “I’ve made mistakes. I’ve broken promises. But I swear if you will give me one last chance, I’ll love you with everything I’ve got, and I will never… ever let you go.” Jayce pulled the lid back to reveal a tiny ring of clovers tied together at the stem, just like the one he’d slid on my finger when we were ten years old. “Claire Cunningham, will you be my forever?”

  My breath caught in my throat, and I could hardly speak. So I nodded. With tear-filled eyes, I finally said, “Does this mean I’m your girlfriend now?”

  His grin covered his gorgeous face. “It means y
ou’re my girlfriend always.”

  I cradled my hand along the curve of his jaw and brought my forehead to his. “Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  I smiled against his lips. “Yes. I want to be your forever.”

  We walked hand-in-hand from the tractor back to the B&B. I looked down at the delicate flower ring on my left hand and smiled.

  “I have the real one in my pocket,” Jayce said when he caught me holding my hand out to stare at it.

  “I’m kinda digging this one,” I shrugged.

  Jayce pulled the custom three-carat diamond ring from his pocket and I froze in place. It was breathtaking. No, there had to be a better word than that. I knew people who would have given their first-born child for a ring like that and here he was waving it around like it had come out of a candy machine. I looked around for a glass case and laser trip wires. That thing belonged in a museum somewhere.

  “Wow,” was all I could manage.

  “Well, jewelry is sort of my thing…”

  “Have I told you how much I love you?” I asked.

  “It’s been a good thirty minutes or so.”

  I nudged him with my shoulder. “Well, I love you.”

  He leaned over and kissed my temple. “I love you more.”

  I knew when he said more that he wasn’t saying he loved me more than I loved him. He was saying he loved me more—more than the pain of past mistakes, more than the time we’d spent apart, more than any argument or difference of opinion—his love for me meant more than any of those things. And I felt exactly the same way.

  “You know this is just superstition, right?” Jayce questioned as he followed me to my car.

  I opened the door and tossed my overnight bag into the back seat then closed it again. When I spun around, I was chest to chest with his hard body. One corner of his mouth curled into a grin, making me smile at the adorable dimple in his cheek. His large frame pressed against me, pinning my back to the side of the car. He rested one hand on the side of my head and tucked a strand of blonde hair behind my ear with the other. My body didn’t want to leave him, but my head wanted to do this right. I looked up into his dark honey colored eyes and nearly melted. I was on fire and it had nothing to do with the Texas sun.